


A time to come

by voices_in_my_head



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-28
Updated: 2013-11-28
Packaged: 2018-01-02 22:10:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1062210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voices_in_my_head/pseuds/voices_in_my_head
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"“So let me get this straight. You want us to get drunk?”"</p><p>Strictly gen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A time to come

“So let me get this straight. You want us to get drunk?”

“No, of course not. I want us to be…” Herc looks around, looking for the right words, “honest with each other. But I gather that’s not happening without some alcohol, so” he brings the bottle of whiskey up. “Sasha told me it was a great year.”

Chuck snorts, “am I supposed to appreciate it?”

Herc sighs. “Look, tomorrow we’re going to be in each other’s heads and you’re going to see things I wish you wouldn’t, just like I will. At least this way there’ll be no surprises.”

“Fine,” Chuck says and lets him into his room.

When they’re sitting across each other on the floor, with Herc playing with the bottle, Chuck asks, “are there no rules? We just say something and take a gulp?”

“The plan is for us to be honest.”

“But we might have questions.”

“Fine. One truth; one question. I’ll go first,” Chuck is about to ask if they drink first and speak after or do it the other way, but Herc has already taken a gulp. A pretty big one. “I’m bi.”

“Like bisexual?” Chuck’s eyebrows rise to his hairlines.

“Yeah,” he rolls his eyes, “and you just asked your question. Your turn,” he passes the bottle.

“No way,” Chuck says, but takes a gulp. “I have no idea what I am but I’ve fucked boys too.”

Herc nods and thinks for some seconds. “You know, I have no question.”

“Good, then I get to ask another, since the first was bullshit. When did you know?”

Herc shrugs. “I don’t know. One day when I was fifteen I just looked at a bloke at thought, ‘he’s pretty hot’ and it sort of hit me.”

Chuck shakes his head but there’s an amused smile in his face and maybe getting his underage son drunk wasn’t a good idea, but it has been a while since Herc got to see that particular smile. “That happened to me too.”

Herc takes the bottle back and takes a gulp. And then another.

“What happened to the one gulp, one truth rule?”

“I’m fucking Pentecost.”

If Chuck had been sitting in a chair he would have fallen off. As it is, his jaw goes slack. “You’re kidding me. Pentecost? Marshall Pentecost? Mako’s father?”

“Yeah, that one and I think that was three questions.”

“Fuck you, old man. You can’t say something like that and expect me to not have questions.”

“Fine, fire away,” Herc goes to take another gulp, but Chuck steals the bottle.

“Since you took two gulps for one truth, I get to ask two questions,” Herc sighs but doesn’t interrupt. “When did it start?”

“Two years ago.”

Chuck wants to ask more details but he only has another question, and there’s something more important, “who’s the bottom?”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah! I have to see that tomorrow. I want to be prepared.”

“Fine, we switch. Happy?” Herc’s blushing and so is Chuck because no, he is not happy with the fact that the next day he’ll know more about his dad’s sex life than any child ever wanted.

“My turn,” Chuck takes a gulp. “Y’know I don’t think I have any truth to tell. Unless you want to know about the negative I had on my last English test.”

“How do you have a negative in English? It’s literally your language.”

Chuck shrugs. “It’s fucking hard. All the times and shit, and I just get confused.”

Herc shakes his head, “when I was your age I took not only English lessons but French as well and even German for two years. Now that was hard.”

“It’s like dogs barking. Hey, maybe Max could give me a few lessons.”

Herc shakes his head again because he used to hear that joke when he was younger all the time.

He takes the bottle back and drinks. “I don’t think I have any more truths.”

“This was just an excuse for you to get drunk and come out of the closet.”

“M’not drunk.”

“Sure you’re not, old man,” Chuck grabs the bottle and drinks.

“Hey, you’re only sixteen.”

“You’re the one that gave me the bottle in the first place.”

“Not for you to drink. Just for us to… bond.”

“With booze. Great going, dad, really. All Australians are proud of you.”

“You have no idea how man ‘Australians are all drunks’ jokes I’ve been hearing for the last years. And having my brother as co-pilot didn’t help matters.”

Chuck gives back the bottle and bites his lip. “What happened? I mean, there are a lot of rumours but…”

“Your uncle liked to party. Alcohol, drugs, prostitutes… you call it. One day he just exaggerated. Was high when we went out to fight and just wouldn’t do anything right. Either he was almost falling asleep or he had too much energy. We had to call Coyote Tango for help.”

“And he got discharged.”

“Yeah,” Herc takes another gulp. “I always loved my brother, and I still do, but it was a mistake getting inside a jaeger with him. I always knew he would end up with problems, but...” he shrugs, “I wanted to help fight the monsters and there was no one else.”

“Now you have me,” Chuck says and blushes because he wasn’t supposed to have said that out loud but Herc sends him a soft smile and maybe getting drunk together wasn’t such a bad idea.

“I do.”

They drink a bit more and there are more questions asked, mostly Chuck asking about what he’ll see, like are there are any kinks he should know about to which Herc goes very pink and Chuck’s no longer sure drifting with his dad is a good idea. It may cost him his sanity.

“You and Marshall. Is it serious?” Chuck asks in a quiet tone when the bottle is almost empty and they’re both swaying a little.

“I don’t know. I mean, I’m not exactly good at talking about feelings and shit, obviously, so we haven’t really discussed what it is we have but… it’s good. It makes me happy.”

“Like mum?” Chuck can’t help but ask because he’s been wanting to ask about her since Herc first came in with the bottle.

“There will never be another like your mother. She was the love of my life.”

Chuck doesn’t know how to answer; especially when he thinks that it’s because of him that they’re no longer together.

Herc puts his hand on his shoulder, like he knows what the he’s thinking.

“I would have given anything to be able to save her. Anything but you. If our rolls had been reversed that’s what your mum would have done. That’s what I hope she would have done. You’re our biggest achievement and she would have been so proud.”

Chuck doesn’t say anything, just cleans the tears that are threatening to fall.

“Tomorrow you’re going to be seeing her. Just, don’t chase the Rabbit.”

Chuck nods. It’s going to be hard seeing her alive, knowing it’s not true but he’ll do it. He’ll do it because there are kaijus to kill and he can’t do it if he’s not inside a jaeger and tomorrow he’s going to prove to everyone that he’s the best pilot there is. Even if he has to see his father doing things that will make him have nightmares for life.

 


End file.
